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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Mass Worm Suicide Attempt

So years ago I fell in love with Ken and Amy's vermicomposting table and made a crude version-

I used a table purchased from an Amish furniture supplier, ground covering fabric from a remediation job in Dayton, a plexiglass cover that was melted subsequently after installing, worms from amazon.com, no LCD screen or IR camera... but I loved it.

The system wasn't perfect- it was difficult to keep it moist and has sat without tenants for the last few years.

I got a new batch of worms this week and threw them in there last night- though I didn't inspect the bottom of the bag...

Originally I had stitched coco coir twine in the bottom to be able to open and close it- it never worked all that well and remained closed all the time. But, the twine had degraded a bit and there was an opening. I had lined the bottom with a trash bag to try and keep moisture in this time before putting the worms in. So they had to climb up the bag, over it, then down and out of the opening to escape. They REALLY wanted out and about 5% made it out. Then they shriveled and perished. It was pretty sad.

So later in the day (after a few more had escaped) I pulled out the trusty awl, we stitched up the bottom, then I lined it with a 1/4 of a trash bag then a corner of a couch-cushion cover that we replaced earlier in the day. Added a dead potted basil plant that was on a window sil and scraps from breakfast.